The best of British was put on display for visiting Chinese president Xi Jinping and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - including James Bond's car and a Dalek.
Ahead of talks with David Cameron at Downing Street, the Chinese leader and William and Kate saw the iconic objects and learnt about British and Chinese technology and creativity collaborations.
In the imposing setting of Lancaster House in central London, companies and institutions had set up stands to highlight their products and services at a UK Trade & Investment exhibition.
On display was everything from an outlandish hat by leading British milliner Philip Treacy, a Dalek and Doctor Who's Tardis, a red London bus, black cab and there was even a live performance by some of the cast from the hit show Poldark.
There was excitement when Chinese actor Jackie Chan, who has crossed over to become a Hollywood star, met the Cambridges and Mr Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan.
William is president of Bafta, which presented a limited edition artwork to the Chinese leader, and Mr Chan said he appealed to the Cambridges and the the president to get behind films from his homeland.
He said: "I was telling them what I'm doing right now and saying please support Chinese movies.
"I think (the visit) really helps for the culture exchange.
"Right now, China is one of the bigger markets.
"Collaboration really helps me to create new ideas."
William, Kate, Mr Xi and Madame Peng were given a sneak preview of a crucial scene from the next series of the hit show Poldark during their tour of British creative talent.
The foursome watched intently as Heida Reed, who plays Elizabeth, and Jack Farthing, who portrays Poldark's nemesis George, argued about marriage.
Dressed in period costume and in the sumptuous setting of Lancaster House, they performed an intense scene where George tries to get Elizabeth to set a date for their wedding.
Studio cameras and a sound engineer were also in place to give a sense of a film set and after the scene ended the guests chatted to the actors and Debbie Horsfield, writer and executive producer of the hit show.
William asked ''how's it been down there in Cornwall, windy?'', and Farthing and Reed replied together ''really windy'', with the Duke responding ''all the sound microphones were (probably) blown away''.
After the royals and their guests had left, Ms Horsfield said William had mentioned taking breaks in Cornwall: ''He said he had family holidays there, the weather is notoriously fickle and we do film some scenes in the studios.''
The Cambridges and the Chinese delegation were also shown how London's Victoria & Albert Museum is working with the state-owned China Merchants Group to create a design museum, due to open in 2017, in the city of Shenzhen.
Tim Reeve, deputy director and chief operating officer at the V&A, said the art and design museum had displayed Chinese exhibits ever since it opened in 1852.
He showed the visitors some of its more recent acquisitions , including a hat featuring an orchid designed by Philip Treacy, a favourite designer of the Duchess of Cornwall.
There was also a gown by the Chinese designer Ma Ke, a favourite of Madame Peng, who smiled broadly when the fashion guru was mentioned.
William was taken with a wooden chair, made to look like a plastic chair, by Dutch designer Maarten Baas, commenting: ''That's fantastic.''
Mr Cameron is hosting talks with Mr Xi at Downing Street to cement multibillion-pound trade deals.
Investment by Beijing in Britain's first UK nuclear power plant in a generation is expected to be confirmed as part of what the government hopes will amount altogether to £30 billion of agreements.
But the lavish welcome given to the president was attacked as a ''national humiliation'' by a former close adviser to the Prime Minister, who is under pressure to raise concerns about human rights and ''dumped'' cheap steel blamed for the loss of thousands of British jobs.
Ex-Number 10 policy guru Steve Hilton said the UK should be imposing sanctions, not rolling out the red carpet.